HAPUR: A Sessions Court in Hapur has granted bail to Yudhisthir Sisodia, the key accused arrested for lynching Qasim Qureishi on suspicion of cow slaughter.
Surprisingly, Sessions Judge Renu Agarwal granted bail on submission of a bond of Rs 1 lakh within 20 days of the arrest of the main accused.
Apart from Yudhisthir, three others — Rakesh Sisodia, Sonu and Kanu.
The local police left red-faced with the development since they represented a strong case against the eleven accused based on video footage of the crime and the testimony of 65-year-old Mohammad Samiuddin who was brutally beaten and abused by the mob.
“A person accused under section 302 (murder) of the IPC normally doesn’t get bail easily. I can’t afford to comment on the court order but we had put together the statement of the victim’s family, video footage of the incident and other corroborative evidence in the case diary,” told Hapur superintendent Sankalp Sharma to Times Of India adding that court has issued non-bailable warrant against all the 11 accused.
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Ironically, the main accused Yudhisthir was granted bail on the same day (July 6) elderly Samiuddin was discharged from the hospital.
45-year-old Qasim, a cattle trader by profession, thrashed mercilessly and brutally lynched by a mob on suspicion of cow slaughter on June 19 while Samiuddin, a farmer suffered severe injuries in the incident.
A chilling video of the incident also went viral on social media platforms. Also, a photograph of Qasim being dragged like dead animal in presence of three policemen in the frame escorting a Hindutva mob too went viral.
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A 1 minute 8 second video also shows how the aggressive mob forcing the bleeding Samiuddin and even pulling his beard to confess to having slaughtered a cow.
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